This theme brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
{Rather, they denied that whose knowledge they had not encompassed and whose interpretation had not yet come to them..}
Reader’s answer
Question
Where does Shahrur place Jonah 39 within the context of his argument, and what distinction does he derive from it between interpretation and exegesis?
Shahrur cites Jonah 39 after discussing Jonah 37, reading the phrase “whose interpretation had not yet come to them” as a reference to the mutashabih Qur’an, which he considers open to interpretation rather than direct exegesis. The verse enters his argument by linking denial to a lack of comprehensive knowledge and to awaiting interpretation.
Drawing on Jonah 39, after linking it to Jonah 37, Shahrur takes it to refer to a mutashabih Qur’an open to interpretation rather than direct exegesis. He uses the verse to connect denial with a lack of comprehensive knowledge and with the non-arrival of interpretation.
Citation and location
the Book and the Qur’an — p. 70.
Limits of the reading
- The citation establishes this distinction as Shahrur’s reading; it does not provide an independent, detailed definition of interpretation or exegesis.
- The citation does not establish that this verse alone grounds a general theory of the entire mutashabih Qur’an.
- The wording “premature judgment before understanding is complete” is a possible editorial explanation of the meaning of lacking comprehensive knowledge and of the non-arrival of interpretation; it is not wording attributed to Shahrur in the citation.
- No relation of synonymy or non-synonymy between other terms may be inferred from this passage.
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Brief reading
The verse is used to affirm that the mutashabih text is understood through interpretation, and that denial results from premature judgment before understanding is complete.
Themes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- Interpretation: 2
- Denial before interpretation: 2
- Deferred interpretation: 2
Its place in the conceptual network
It belongs to a network that distinguishes between the apparent meaning of a statement and its later scientific outcome.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Critique of tradition: 2
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 70: He cites it to argue that the mutashabih Qur’an is open to interpretation rather than direct exegesis, and that denial occurred before its interpretation was comprehended.
- Concept: Interpretation
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual citation: “{Rather, they denied that whose knowledge they had not encompassed and whose interpretation had not yet come to them} (Jonah 39)”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 164: He uses it to argue that denial occurred because of premature judgment before scientific interpretation had arrived.
- Concept: Denial before interpretation
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual citation: “{Rather, they denied that whose knowledge they had not encompassed and whose interpretation had not yet come to them..}”
- the Book and the Qur’an, p. 171: He employs it to show that denial results from a lack of comprehensive knowledge before interpretation arrives.
- Concept: Deferred interpretation
- Function of the verse here: Critique of tradition
- Textual citation: “{Rather, they denied that whose knowledge they had not encompassed and whose interpretation had not yet come to them..}”
Related books
This page is presented within the overall methodology for building the atlas.